Four Years with the Iron Brigade: The Civil War Journals of William R Ray, Co. F, Seventh Wisconsin Infantry [Hardcover]

William R Ray (Author), Lance Herdegen (Editor), Sherry Murphy (Editor)

Book Description

Publication Date: 2002

The recently discovered journal of William Ray of the Seventh Wisconsin is the most important primary source ever of soldier life in one of the war's most famous fighting organizations. No other collection of letters or diaries comes close to it.Two days before his regiment left Wisconsin in 1861, the twenty-three-year-old blacksmith began, as he described it, "to keep account" of his life in what became the "Iron Brigade of the West." Ray's journal encompasses all aspects of the enlisted man's life-the battles, the hardships, the comradeship. And Ray saw most of the war from the front rank. He was wounded at Second Bull Run, again at Gettysburg, and yet a third time in the hell of the Wilderness. He penned something in his journal almost every day-occasionally just a few lines, at other times thousands of words. Ray's candid assessments of officers and strategy, his vivid descriptions of marches and the fighting, and his evocative tales of foraging and daily army life fill a large gap in the historical record and give an unforgettable soldier's-eye view of the Civil War.

Editorial Reviews

About the Author

Lance J. Herdegen is the author or editor of many books, and the country's leading historian of the Iron Brigade. He teaches history at Carroll College in Waukesha, Wisconsin. Sherry Murphy, the great-great step-granddaughter of William Ray, lives in Washington State.

Product Details

• Hardcover: 446 pages
• Publisher: Da Capo Press; First Edition first Printing edition (2002)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0306811197
• ISBN-13: 978-0306811197
• Product Dimensions: 9.2 x 6.3 x 1.4 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.6 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.4 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (13 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #827,281 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars 1 July 1863. The first day of Gettysburg., January 9, 2007

By 

Indiana Lee (Texas/Michigan) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Four Years with the Iron Brigade: The Civil War Journals of William R Ray, Co. F, Seventh Wisconsin Infantry (Hardcover)

The Civil War Journal of William Ray, Company F, Seventh Wisconsin Volunteers. William Ray was a enlisted man of the Famed Iron Brigade. His story told in his own words from a journal he kept, is an amazing story as told by some one who is there. I will let him tell about a few minutes on the 1st of July 1863 at a place called Gettysburg. His unit having been heavily engaged for most of the day were ordered to fall back though the town.

"I was hit about 1/4 mile out of town by a Ball on the top of the head, come near knocking me down. But I straighted up, went on, another Ball hits sole of my shoe cutting it nearly in two, it ownly making my foot sting a little."

Walking though Gettysburg he stopped at a 2nd Division "hospital" to seek help for his wounds. This "hospital" was soon surrendered to the Confederates (as they took the town), so he walked back to his unit. His story is amazing and detailed. It is a excellent testimony of how life was really like in the Union Army for a regular soldier.

2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars A rare window on daily life in the Iron Brigade!, December 30, 2004

By 

Eric Jones (Virginia, USA) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Four Years with the Iron Brigade: The Civil War Journals of William R Ray, Co. F, Seventh Wisconsin Infantry (Hardcover)

Private William Ray of Company F, 7th Wisconsin Volunteers, wrote (it seems) nearly everyday for four years of war in his journals. It is a book of journal entries that, from start to finish record a momentous journey. To read this book is to travel with Ray across the countryside and know the ever-present boredom of soldier life, punctuated with hard marches and occasional life threatening danger. One gets a real sense of the soldier's isolated position in the war and constant search and need for information, and the ever present lack of it. The book is packed with amazing detail, and it is always from the perspective of the Private soldier. Often Ray has no idea of the larger scope of events he is moving through. Ray has a wonderfully objective attitude, and relates his thoughts and feelings well. What was it like to be wounded in battle? Journey with Ray from the battlefield, through field hospitals, ultimately to spend about a year in a Philadelphia hospital for soldiers. Returning to the regiment, Ray is soon wounded again. Some of the best of Ray's journal comes in 1864 when he is constantly in the action around Petersburg. This book gives the full experience of the common soldier's life in the Iron Brigade, in rare length and depth. Reading 446 pages of journal entries is not a task lightly undertaken, but it is well worth the journey. I recommend reading this one after being well versed in the big picture of the Brigade's history.

1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars quite thorough, January 12, 2009

By 

Ethan Keller "phunkocity" (Milwaukee, WI) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Four Years with the Iron Brigade: The Civil War Journals of William R Ray, Co. F, Seventh Wisconsin Infantry (Hardcover)

this book is a gem

unbelievable detail -- it may transport you into a Iron Brigade soldiers uniform more than any other book.

however, not much battle detail - you are built up to the date you know is their first battle - and Ray is shot almost immediately i-- and then writes details later as he convalesces. It can really hold you in suspension.

Ray himself is an interestingly detached character, but definitely takes pride in being good at his job of soldiering. After all, he is in the Iron Brigade.

This book cant get a little tedious, but if you let it you can get into it, and it becomes quite gripping, even in the mundane parts of camp life. You're always waiting to see what crazy thing happens next.